Thailand ranked most adulterous country in the world

Thailand is the most adulterous country in the world, according a ranking from Statista, which found that 56% of married adults in the ‘Land of Smiles’ admitted to having an affair.

Thailand appears top be an anomaly among Asian nations – the other nine countries in the top 10-most-adulterous list are in Europe, ranging from Denmark in 2nd, where 46% of people cheat, to Finland and the UK in joint 9th, where 36% of people cheat. The results were based on data from ‘The Richest’ and Match.com, i100.independent.uk reports.

The Richer has this somewhat tenuous explanation for Thailand’s adultery ‘problem’:

There isn’t necessarily a direct connection between sex work and adultery, but the industry contributes to a no-holds-barred vibe to sexuality in Thailand. Patpong is the first and sometimes only part of the country tourists see. Among expat males, young Thai girlfriends are a status symbol. There’s also an old tradition of polygamy called Mia Nois, lesser wives, which remains primarily among rich men.

Thailand’s top ranking for adultery in this ranking looks to be based on the results of a 2012 survey by condom-maker Durex which ranked Thai men as ‘the most adulterous’ (54%) and Thai women as ‘the second most adulterous’ (59%) partners in the world.

A report by English-language daily The Nation soon after reported that the survey “has been challenged by local medical and gender groups.”

Supensri Puengkoksung of the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation said the poll did not reflect the real situation in Thailand. It just reflected the opinion of people who were approached and ready to answer the survey. ‘You could not say that all Thai women had cheated on their partners and always had affairs with other men,’ she said.

Surely a significant percentage of Thai women cheat on their husbands and lovers, as each society must have its fair share of female and male cheaters. But 6 in 10 of Thai women “often” cheat on their partners? Egad!

Consider that about 30% of Thai women of marriageable age (15-45) nationwide are single (the figure is over 40% in Bangkok).* How can that be? If 6 in 10 Thai women are adulterous, while 3 don’t have a husband to cheat on, that leaves 1 in 10 being truly faithful in the religious sense of the word.